My dad taught my brother and I to play when we were younger. I had a sneaking suspicion that he wanted to have someone to play with. I remember seeing him arrange the pieces on the board and telling us about each piece one by one. I was too young to appreciate it at the time, and I believe I went to play with my puzzles. (I love me some puzzles)

My brother took up the sport and played against my dad ruthlessly until one day he eventually beat him. My dad says that he let him and I have never seen them play since.

My brother also had a magnetised chess set that folded in half and stored the pieces when not in use. I was too young to comprehend how to play against him so I would “borrow” his chess board when not in use and have the chess pieces move as characters as part of my story. The knight piece was of course simply a horse because it looked like one. When I was done with the battle field that was the chess board, I would turn it over and use the storage compartments as the palace. Fun times.